Thought we were finally past the vampire trend? Dracula Untold tries to prove there’s life in it still. As the title suggests, this isn’t just the story of a vampire but of the most iconic vampire who ever existed. And like most vampires, it turns out, he was a human once.

Specifically, he was a prince named Vlad Tepes (Luke Evans) who just wanted to protect his family and his people from invading Turkish hordes. In desperation, he turns to dark forces and then becomes one himself. Hit the jump to watch the first Dracula Untold trailer.

If that creepy Nosferatu looks familiar, that’s because, yup, that’s Game of Thrones‘ Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance). It figures that the most ruthless man in King’s Landing would turn out to be an immortal villain with the ability to turn people into horrifying monsters. You’d think Vlad would know better than to drink mysterious liquids at the behest of an obviously evil guy, but then we’d have no movie. So here we are.

Though it’s a vampire story, Dracula Untold seems to have less in common with Twilight, True Blood, or even NBC’s Dracula than it does Snow White and the Huntsman, 300, or Game of Thrones. It’s a medieval fantasy stuffed with CG-heavy battle sequences, most of which seem to end with Evan’s red cape flowing just so in the breeze.

In addition to Evans and Dance, Dracula Untold also stars Sarah Gadon as Vlad’s beloved wife, Art Parkinson (Rickon from Game of Thrones) as his son, Samantha Barks as the legendary witch Baba Yaga, and Dominic Cooper as a villainous Turkish sultan. Charlie Cox, Diarmaid Murtagh, Zach McGowan, and Thor Kristjansson round out the supporting cast.

Dracula Untold flies into theaters October 17. It is the feature directing debut of Gary Shore. [via The Playlist]